Justin Timberlake's drinking buddy was reportedly allowed by police to drive the pop star's car home after he was arrested on charges of driving while under the influence.
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The 43-year-old's friends are said to have intervened after he was pulled over on June 18 for running a stop sign and swerving into the wrong lane following a night out at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor, New York.
TMZ is reporting that, according to sources: "After (Timberlake) was stopped, cops say he failed multiple sobriety field tests and also smelled of alcohol. He refused to blow into a breathalyser, and claimed he only drank one martini."
Sources said the car Timberlake was following came back to where the singer was pulled over, TMZ said.
"There was a woman and her husband in that car, and the woman got out and went up to one of the cops and began questioning him, asking, 'are you going to arrest Justin Timberlake?'
"She then offered to drive Justin to their house, where he was going to spend the night ... in other words, just let him go and she and her husband would get him home safely. That strategy did not work, and Justin was arrested.
"Now here's the twist. Our sources say the woman asked cops if she could take Justin's rental car to her house, given that Justin was going to jail. The cops obliged, she got in Justin's car and left."
"We're told the woman had arrived at The American Hotel two hours before Justin and was drinking ... and it was apparent she had been drinking. Yet the two cops who were on the scene let her take the wheel and drive away."
TMZ said Timberlake's lawyer Edward Burke, Jr – who is trying to get the case dismissed – will "argue the two young cops were so off in their judgment they let a person who had clearly been drinking drive away, right in front of their eyes".
The lawyer will ask: "If they were unable to properly evaluate her, how could they properly evaluate him?"
Timberlake was charged with one count of driving while intoxicated and cited for two traffic offences.
His lawyer said during a hearing last week Timberlake was "not intoxicated" at the time of his arrest and stated the police "made a number of very significant errors".
He added he was "confident that (the) charge will be dismissed".
Timberlake is due in court for his arraignment on August 2 but is expected to attend the hearing virtually.
Australian Associated Press
